Further reduction in State's net debt flowing from Bankwest sale

2/7/96

There has been a further reduction in Western Australia's net debt flowing from the sale of BankWest.

The State Government has completed negotiations with the Commonwealth Government on the income tax compensation payable to WA due to the sale.

Premier Richard Court said the agreement reached resulted in a compensation payment of $200 million which was used to retire a total of $203.9 million in net debt.

"Net debt now stands at $6.7 billion - compared with $8.4 billion when the Coalition was elected to office in 1993," Mr Court said.

"In real per capita terms, the State's net debt has been reduced from $4,538 at June 30,1995 for each Western Australian to $3,844 at the same time this year.

"This represents a debt reduction of $694 for every Western Australian over the past 12 months."

Mr Court said the BankWest sale had been a win/win situation for WA.

"Not only have we been able to retire a significant amount of State debt, but we have a strong, locally-based financial institution in which thousands of Western Australians have a direct stake in the form of shares," he said.

Media contact: Casey Cahill 222 9595